Competition Creates Uncertainty In Women’s Pro Leagues

Last week, it was announced that Angel City FC of the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) and Chelsea FC, an English soccer club, had agreed to a $1.3 to $1.5 million transfer payment that will see Alyssa Thompson, a star on the U.S. Women’s National Team (USWNT), leave Angel City and the NWSL and go across the pond. Then, this week, Unrivaled, a women’s professional three-on-three basketball league, announced that it recently completed a new round of funding that valued the league at $340 million. Meanwhile, the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBPA) and the players union are mired in labor negotiations that threaten the 2026 season. The confluence of events creates an uncertainty about both the present and future of women’s sports leagues in America.

Room For Two?

There is important historical context to the increased competition in women’s sports. The sports landscape is littered with the vestiges of failed leagues and the occasional merger. Major League Baseball as it exists today is an amalgamation of the once competing National League and American League, both of which saw off other competitors in the early and mid-20th century. Then, in the 1960s and 70s, the other major American leagues faced competition from upstart leagues. The NFL eventually absorbed the American Football League in 1966 in a move that included Congressional approval, the NBA incorporated four clubs from the American Basketball Association in 1976, which required approval from a federal court, and the NHL took in four clubs from the World Hockey Association in 1979.

More recently, the world of professional women’s hockey has been in flux. The National Women’s Hockey League (NWHL) formed in 2015 and competed against the Canadian Women’s Hockey League (CWHL), formed in 2007. The CWHL folded in 2019 and the NWHL rebranded as the Premier Hockey Federation (PHF) in 2021. However, the players union, the Professional Women’s Hockey League Players Association, dissatisfied with the PHF, formed its own league, the Professional Women’s Hockey League (PWHL). The leagues subsequently merged and play today as the PWHL.

The NWSL Reborn – And Challenged

The NWSL was at something of a low point in 2021, facing allegations of inappropriate conduct across the league’s teams and indifference among its executives. In March 2022, the NWSL hired Jessica Berman, a long-time sports executive and attorney, as its Commissioner. Since that time, the league has seen considerable growth in interest and revenue, while agreeing to collective bargaining agreements (CBA) with its players that meaningfully increased player benefits and protections and which adopted policies meant to ensure the NWSL could compete globally (such as the elimination of a player draft).

But the NWSL’s growth also sparked a copycat. In 2024, the United Soccer League (USL), which operates several professional men’s leagues of a lower level than Major League Soccer, began the women’s Super League. The Super League has nine teams across the country, compared to the NWSL’s 14 (soon to be 16), and both leagues play in the summer and fall.

The NWSL has generally retained its status as the premier women’s league in America, with the most recent CBA seemingly giving it a competitive advantage. However, in November 2024, the Super League players unionized, with the next steps likely being the negotiation of a CBA substantially similar to the NWSL’s. Next, in January 2025, Lexi Missimo, one of the USWNT’s top prospects, decided to play in the Super League instead of the NWSL.

Then there is the overseas competition. Trinity Rodman, one of the world’s top players and an NWSL focal point, has said that she would like to play overseas at some point in her career.

Thompson’s departure is undoubtedly bad for the league’s revenue growth and general trajectory. It is all the more confusing that Angel FC, the league’s richest valuable club at an estimated value of $280 million, was unable to retain Thompson. Yet she is only the latest and most expensive of several transfers from NWSL to European soccer clubs. The concern is that the trickle becomes a flood. If that happens, then a merger with the Super League seems reasonably likely.

Will The WNBA Cede The Floor?

The WNBA is experiencing a boom in popularity and revenue, driven in large part by the popularity of Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark. Last year, the players, wanting to share in that boom, opted out of their CBA with the league, effective October 31, 2025. In particular, the players are looking for a share of the league’s broadcast revenues, which increased from about $60 million to $200 million with the 2025 season. However, Clark is out for the season with injuries and the CBA negotiations reportedly are going nowhere good.

Like the Super League in women’s soccer, entrepreneurial spirits also saw an opportunity to capitalize on an increased interest in women’s basketball. Unrivaled played its first season in early 2025 with participation by some of the WNBA’s best players, an arrangement made possible by the WNBA’s relatively short season and unique contract rights which permit players to play in other leagues.

Unrivaled paid players salaries comparable to that they earned in the WNBA for much shorter seasons, while also offering some of them equity in the league. Unrivaled’s recent valuation demonstrates ongoing and robust interest in the league, particularly as there is continued speculation about Clark’s potential to join.

Indeed, if the WNBA and Women’s National Basketball Players Association (WNBPA) are unable to reach an agreement on a new CBA – or an extension of the existing one – then Unrivaled would stand as the only elite professional women’s basketball league set to play in 2026. That would be a nightmare scenario for the WNBA, as fans and sponsors might flock to the upstart rival.

A Sport Divided Cannot Stand

The increased interest in women’s sports is undoubtedly good. Ordinarily, increases in choice and opportunity in consumer, labor, and capital markets are also a good thing. However, in the world of sports, history suggests that interleague competition is destabilizing. Time will whether these various women’s sports leagues can avoid the fate of their men’s league equivalents.

The NWSL did not respond to a request for comment. The WNBA did not respond to a request for comment specifically concerning Unrivaled.